Stamford Christmas Fire Probe Sheds New Light On Blaze, Aftermath

STAMFORD — — The criminal investigation into the Christmas morning fire that killed three girls and their grandparents is over.

But the nearly 600 pages of reports gathered by the Stamford police, fire and building departments in the course of the probe could play a key role in civil lawsuits filed since the tragedy.

Questions about safety precautions and renovations inside the $1.7 million waterfront home before the fire are at the center of a civil action filed earlier this month by Matthew Badger, the father of the three girls.

The lawsuit, filed against Stamford officials, Badger's ex-wife's contractor boyfriend, Michael Borcina, and several others who did work at the home, says "the girls died before they could escape the home which had become a firetrap as a result of months of substandard and dangerous construction."

The reports from the city, released to the public last week, do not blame Borcina or say that any of his actions — or any possible inaction by the city — contributed to the fire. But the reports detail interviews with people who questioned the city's oversight of the renovation project and Borcina's credentials, the work that Borcina oversaw and whether smoke detectors and alarms were properly installed inside the home.

The previously undisclosed reports also provide dramatic snapshots of the tragedy through recollections of the two survivors, Borcina and the girls' mother, Manhattan advertising executive Madonna Badger, and the heartbreak of firefighters faced with trying to save the family.

"It was later discovered that this entry attempt came to within a few feet of reaching victims located at the top of the second floor stairwell," the report says.

With the lawsuit filings and release of the 588 pages of documents, the widely publicized family tragedy has grown well beyond the narrow focus of a fire investigation report.

No Criminal Charges

Stamford State's Attorney David I. Cohen announced in June that he would not file any criminal charges in connection with the fire that killed the Badger girls — Lily, 9, and twins Sarah and Grace, both 7 — and Madonna Badger's parents, Pauline and Lomer Johnson.

The fire at 2267 Shippan Ave. broke out shortly after Badger and Borcina had gone to sleep after a night of wrapping Christmas presents. The investigatory reports say that Borcina discarded fireplace ashes inside the home's mudroom before going to bed.

According to the recently released reports, Borcina — who was sleeping alone in a rear bedroom — said he was awakened early that morning by "someone knocking on the bedroom door."

Smoke made visibility poor inside the home, but he believed that Pauline and Lomer Johnson and one of the girls were there at the door, he told investigators. He said he led the three of them down the front staircase. The front door was on fire, so he went back up to the second floor — but later realized that neither the Johnsons nor the girl was behind him, the fire investigation states.

Borcina escaped the burning home by climbing out of a window onto the roof of the front porch and jumping to the ground.

Firefighters found the bodies of the three girls and their grandmother inside the home. Lomer Johnson's body was found on the porch roof. Fire officials believe that Johnson had been leading one of his granddaughters toward a second-floor window to escape, but he fell face forward from the window onto the roof.

Firefighters found Madonna Badger on the roof of the front porch, where she told them she went to look for her children. A police sergeant recalled seeing Badger later kneeling in her driveway, dressed in a nightgown with no shoes. Her hands, feet and portions of her face were covered in soot.

"Why aren't they getting my children?" Badger screamed, the sergeant said in the report, and she tried "to push me away to run past me to get to the house."

Investigators are convinced that the fire began in a mudroom on the first floor of the house, where hours earlier Borcina had put discarded ashes from the fireplace.

In his decision not to prosecute Borcina, Cohen cited Borcina's statement in which he told investigators that he was able to run his hands over the ashes, a sign to both him and Madonna Badger that there were no hot embers.

Borcina's lawyer, Eugene J. Riccio, expressed relief at the time of Cohen's decision, saying that Borcina had come under unnecessary and hurtful scrutiny.

On Friday, Riccio pointed again to Cohen's conclusions.

"A respected and experienced prosecutor looked at this matter and decided it shouldn't be pursued criminally as it relates to this horrendous incident," Riccio said. "I think that decision speaks for itself."

Riccio said that Borcina was fully cooperative with the police investigation.